Cinematic Era: 2008 Vintage

Russian-born composer Sofia Gubaidulina entered the international spotlight at a relatively late age, when the 49-year-old came forward with her premier violin concerto, "Offertorium," in 1980. Gubaidulina authored that piece for Gideon Kremer. Curiously, it would be another 12 years before Gubaidulina received a commission (from Paul Sacher) to author her second violin concerto, and another 15 years after that until the notes fell on ears ripe with anticipation. For the debut of the "Second Violin Concerto," Gubaidulina insisted that no one other than German violin virtuoso Anne-Sophie Mutter perform it. That Mutter performance from August 2007 appears, in its entirety, in this classical concert film. Jan Schmidt-Garre directs.

Robbie Coltrane explores Britain's back roads in this offbeat travel program in which the actor/comedian sets off in his classic Jaguar roadster on a quest to encounter quirky locals and discover little-known rural traditions. Touring byways rarely traveled by tourists, Coltrane happens upon a scarecrow convention, takes part in Mytholmroyd's pudding contest, meets colorful people with extraordinary talents and much more.

Visual Acoustics celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman, the world's greatest architectural photographer, whose images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream. Shulman, who passed away this year, captured the work of nearly every modern and progressive architect since the 1930s including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Frank Gehry. His images epitomized the singular beauty of Southern California's modernist movement and brought its iconic structures to the attention of the general public. This unique film is both a testament to the evolution of modern architecture and a joyful portrait of the magnetic, whip-smart gentleman who chronicled it with his unforgettable images.

The story of a poor student from a village in Sri Lanka who was sent to a wealthy school in the country's capital city.

Former freelance Soldier "Dragonhair" has retired for years. He set up a private investigation agency and now runs it with a group of martial arts experts. The group's premier investigator, Gene, an orphan who has learnt his excellent skills of swords, guns and Thai boxing from Dragonhair, keeps investigating crime cases while searching for his father. Anna, the adopted boyish girl of Dragonhair also works in the group. Dragonhair's daughter Run, migrated to Japan with her mother, has now returned to Thailand to visit her father. When all seems to be working so well, Dragon hair is threatened with a bullet shot into his home and a mysterious bomb like box which was sent to him. Everyone in the detective agent tries to find out who wants to kill Dragonhair. The old man has been worrying that he has to pay his debt for what the did 10 years ago but he never imagined his innocent child would also be affected....

The film tells the story of the experiences of Major Syrtis during the first Christmas on a newly-colonized Mars. Coyne has described the film as "Maybe Eraserhead or Dead Man crossed with some kind of fantasy and space aspects, like The Wizard of Oz and maybe A Space Odyssey, and set at Christmas-time. The story that unfolds is intended to hint at childlike magic within a tragic and realistic situation."

In the forest, a man is buried up to his waist and repeats an interminable and incomprehensible monologue. His seclusion is about to be disturbed by the arrival of a little boy.

A drug and sex addicted criminal attorney tries to regain control of his life after a case defending his childhood friend begins to unravel him. While attempting to buy a quick fix from a psychiatrist, he reveals the truth behind his addiction fueled inner demons.

In 1946, President Peron started a secret nuclear project with the help of Nazis refugees which consisted in the use of a new method "Nuclear Fusion". Five years later, he would announce to the world his succeed. Even today, no country around the world has achieved it.

Dina’s mother moves to live with her daughter and almost immediately tension and conflicts arise between her and her son-in-law Pasha. Mother is trying to open Dina’s eyes on her husband, but she does not want to listen to anything. Mother decides to go to the country and asks her son-in-law to help transport things. But she immediately returns and admits that by accident ... she killed Pasha. Now Dina and mother live in constant fear that everything will open. And at the same time, they gradually learn more and more unpleasant and mysterious details about Pasha. And when it is not known why the mother is dying, and Vedernikov’s operas come to the apartment, Dina is already on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Vera and Vanja, two vampire sisters, are forced to run for their lives, when Vera kills the leader of a biker-gang in a night club. While escaping from the bikers, Vanja gets more determined that she wants to leave the outcast vampire-lifestyle and adjust to the human world. She wants to live a normal life, even though it means the end of a life together with her sister. Vera won't accept a life in solitude and is willing to fight to make her sister stay.

The story of Balbir Singh Gill aka Bobby, a Sikh grocery store owner who is kidnapped and tortured by four Americans who mistake him for a Muslim because he wears a turban.

A bloody drama and an apocalyptic vision of the universities, and more generally of Québec society.

When Kuba finds out his girlfriend Ewa is pregnant, he reflects on life and wants to prepare to do everything he can to be a great father and provider. Kuba wants to be a responsible man but he isn't sure what is the ideal way to live. He visits his three uncles seeking their advice on what he should do. As they all have their own perspectives, each of his uncles guides him in new directions.

Captain MooBeard and his first mate, Sailor Bird, are out to find treasure on the Island of Hookamookapookalap. When the evil ninja ducky Dark Blade of Fire steals their map, they must race to finish and claim what is rightfully theirs!

Sarah Gonzales, a grade school English teacher, joins the 150,000 Pinoy OFWs working in the United Kingdom to support her husband, Teddy Gonzales, in making a better living for their family. More than just a chronicle of the Filipinos experience working as nurses and caregivers in the UK, this story also charts Sarah's journey to self-discovery from a submissive wife who makes sacrifices for her husband's aspirations to an empowered woman who finds dignity and pride in a humbling job as a caregiver in London.

It is a positive and optimistic story of two thirty-something people who are made for each other, Matylda and Bartek, who are needing and looking for love and closeness, but who are constantly missing each other in the course of their lives.

The plan seems to be working. The beautiful policewoman takes up a position in Deniz's company and quickly gains the trust and affection of her young compatriot. Gradually, she learns details about the planned attack from Deniz, who is actually in contact with fanatical Islamists, including German Muslim converts. And she gets to know the head of the group, the shady Abu "Ayman" Gallaz. But Yasemin can't fool him. Ayman immediately starts his own investigations. When his suspicions are confirmed and he is certain that Deniz has been seduced by an undercover agent, he skillfully exploits this knowledge. He lures the police onto the wrong track with targeted false information and gives Deniz the job of eliminating Yasemin.

A drama about a fortysomething man who entertains fantasies of a different life. Staging his apparent death, he moves to an island but pines for his former existence, and wonders if he could return to it.

Soul Tigers Marching Band, Inc. has stepped into the breach to offer not just music education and the arts but the development of integrity, honorable personal conduct, and patience & respect for others, for some New York’s most underserved youth populations.

Elvis is missing, and five of his classmates decide to go looking for him. While in hot pursuit of his tracks, the children are caught up in a whirl of exciting adventures, encountering all sorts of people and unusual situations.

Actor Val Kilmer narrates this powerful film exploring the methamphetamine epidemic that's ravaged blue-collar America. Putting a human face on the problem, filmmaker Justin Hunt reveals the damage being done by this rural drug of choice, as well as the steps being taken by communities across the nation to wipe out the scourge. From Wyoming to New Mexico, Montana and Oregon, American Meth paints a picture of both devastation and hope.

After being accepted into a prestigious New England art school, sexy small-town Joe and townie mastermind Jennifer quickly join forces. They are determined to succeed on a campus over-populated with jaded mega-rich kids awash in trust funds, abortions, and drugs galore.

Concert film featuring the stars of avex trax on the stage during the a-nation festival held every year in August. This was to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the label avex trax in the music industry.

Chloé, a young baby sitter, must look after Blanche, the daughter of Agnes and François, for the first time. Once the couple has left, Chloé falls asleep in front of TV. When she wakes up, she is horrified to discover that the baby is no longer there.

An aspiring police officer and trainee Vamshi (Puneeth Rajkumar) is impulsive and aggressive in his ways, with even a little thing unleashing gruesome anger in him. This attitude costs him his dream, as he fails his interview when the panel realizes that he is too compulsive. However, there is a past that warrants for this behavior of his. When he is rejected by the Police academy, he joins his late father`s gang and becomes a goon. This, he doesn`t realize until later, distance him from his mother and lady love. Understanding their importance, when he tries to walk back from the path of violence and immorality, his henchmen do not let him. Will he be able to reform his life for his, and his family`s sake?

A three-dimensional narrative enacted at the California Poppy Reserve. It’s part of Mike Plante's Lunchfilm series of commissioned shorts (made for the cost of a lunch between Plante and filmmakers, Naomi Uman and Lee Lynch).

The New York lawyer Willam Singer receives three letters, that his father's cousin from Germany wrote to him over the last 5 decades, describing, that she hosted three people in her cellar for more than 60 years. Singer tries to find out, if she wrote the truth.

Frantic Assembly takes Shakespeare’s muscular and beautiful text, combines its own bruising physicality, and presents an Othello firmly rooted in a volatile 21st century. This is a world of broken glass and broken promises, of poisonous manipulation and explosive violence.

Master Boh lies to the people that he can communicate with spirits and randomly predicts the numbers for everyone who wants to win the lottery.

Magic Lamp is a 2008 Indian Malayalam film, directed by K. K. Haridas and produced by Cherupuzha Jose. The film stars Jayaram, Oduvil Unnikrishnan, Kottayam Nazeer and Meena in lead roles. The film had musical score by Ouseppachan.

The repercussions are immediate when activist history professor Arthur Collins - out of frustration - assigns his class to design a plan to assassinate the President of the United States. Life becomes particularly tough for the professor's teaching assistant T.K., whose reluctance to choose a side plants the young man right in the middle.

The touching story of a boy and old man coming to terms with bereavement through their shared love of fishing, and the legend of Goliath, the biggest pike ever caught.

Based on Anton Chekhov's classic play, The Orchard is an eccentric comedy about class struggles in Russia at the turn of the 20th century. An aging aristocratic lady returns home to face the loss of her magnificent cherry orchard estate.

This documentary examines the existence of films in which people are murdered on camera and the culture surrounding them. Through interviews with former FBI Profilers, Cultural Academics, and Film Historians the documentary delves into the disturbing history and myth of Snuff Films. The FBI claims there is no evidence to prove the existence of Snuff and, therefore, Snuff Films are a myth. This documentary analyzes the relationships between war, cult films, serial killers and pornography to prove whether or not this pervasive myth is, in fact, reality.

Shortly after the turn of the 20th Century, a small group of entrepreneurs began making motion pictures, and went west to a small suburb of Los Angeles. They became movie moguls, tasting success beyond their wildest American Dreams.

In Northern Ireland during the Peace Process Colin is a joyriding hood who couldn't give a toss about the political situation, but a chance encounter with a ruthless detective turns him into an informer for the so-called forces of law and order and a target for retribution for his father's old mates in the IRA.

On Zambia's Liuwa Plain two star-crossed spotted hyena cubs are born to warring rival clans: Twaambo, a male cub and Nasanta, a female, are destined to lead converging lives as their extreme environment forces them together

The director's son gives interesting anecdotes about Frank Capra's making of the 1938 hit comedy, "You Can't Take It With You."

Undeniably one of the most important and influential gay music acts in the last twenty years, Pansy Division pioneered the "queercore" genre long before other gay musicians had the confidence to come out of the closet, and without major record label support or mainstream radio airplay. Using original and archive footage and covering over fifteen years as a group, Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band is a fast-paced, intimate and humorous account of one of rock's most fearless acts. From their first days in San Francisco's underground music scene to a full-fledged stadium tour with Green Day and beyond, founding members Jon Ginoli and Chris Freeman overcome increasingly difficult line-up changes, prejudice and near-poverty to keep the band together and create music that has truly made a difference.

Getting away from it all causes more problems than it solves in this comedy from the French writing-directing team of Jean-Marie Larrieu and Arnaud Larrieu. Alexandre Darou (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) and his wife Aurore Lalu (Sabine Azema) are a pair of well-known actors who need a break from the tension and fast pace of their lives in show biz. Adopting the names "Mr. and Mrs. Go," Alexandre and Aurore head for a village high in the mountains of Southwest France, where they hope to enjoy some relaxing downtime and they won't be bothered. However, Alexandre and Aurore underestimated their own fame, and it isn't long before everyone in the town knows that a pair of movie stars are in their midst. As the couple head into the hills, Alexandre and Aurore discover they don't have much of a talent for roughing it, and while she believed that getting away from the city would help her deal with a recent bout with nymphomania, getting back to nature only increases her appetite for other men.

In 1846, Anthony Hope sails into London with the mysterious Sweeney Todd, a once-naive barber whose life and marriage was uprooted by a corrupt justice system. Todd confides in Nellie Lovett, the owner of a local meat pie shop, and the two become partners, as Todd swears revenge on those that have wronged him and decides to take up his old profession.

Arthur Dichter thinks he is dying of insomnia, but the reality is much more frightening. In this surreal puzzle film, Dichter turns from his wife to a private journal to record his deepest fears. Anna knows her husband lives in a waking nightmare where delusions and reality blend, but is powerless to help him. As Arthur's disease gives way to despair, loneliness, and alienation, he and Anna hang onto their last shred of hope. This atmospheric film explores personal identity, marital discord, and contemporary life, turning narrative and chronology inside out to find the darkest corners of the human spirit. With music from avant-garde legends AMM, Art Bears, and Stephen O'Malley's Ginnungagap.

To mark the artist Fernando Botero's 75th birthday, Peter Schamoni made a documentary film about his moving life. Fernando Botero is immediately recognizable by his colourful and exuberant works. Schamoni convinces us that, behind the cliché of the naïve, Fernando Botero is an artist who also devotes himself to serious and profound themes. Schamoni not only accompanies Botero to Tuscany, where he creates his sculptures, and to his Parisian painter's studio. The film also takes us on a journey to Colombia, where Schamoni lets the viewer take part in the world in which the artist lives and works, in the highs and lows of his life.

The year: 3037. Earth is at war with aliens called Mendax, who have remarkable mental abilities and are determined to wipe out humankind. In retaliation, a military team is sent to the Mendax homeworld. Their mission: To deliver the Devorga Strain, a powerful virus engineered to attack the Mendax immune system, exterminating them from their planet. One of the team members is terribly injured when their ship crash lands on the Mendax homeworld. Will they leave a member of their team behind, or risk being slowed by the burden? When the secret of Homeworld is discovered, they must find the truth within themselves or all is lost. But how can you learn the truth when everything you see and feel may be an illusion?

A young taxi driver who is a happy man encounters lots of different stories through his daily life. One day, he is driving a young American woman and he enters an unusual and protracted adventure which he should follow to the end. The American woman has lost the address she is going to refer and it is almost impossible to reach her relatives. The young driver believes that he should help the woman until she finds her relatives and this issue causes many problems between him and his fiancee. He also has other problems regarding the American woman and his unusual friend.

Adrian is a talented young sculptor eager to assert himself in the art world. His first exhibition in the Capital catches Gloria's eye. She's an art student looking for "her" artist. Between the two something's born and soon she becomes Adrian's lover and muse, as well as his agent. But someone else also falls in love with Adrian's work: Lulli, an internationally-renowned art critic – and also Gloria's guardian and lover before Adrian's arrival.

Two couples, in the same room, try to keep it together. The human couple fare differently to the pair of Goldfish in their fish tank. An artful piece exploring choice in life and love. The humour is derived from the wistful musings, in Cantonese, of the male fish and narrator.

The story starts with the next generation of the original Boonchu films. Boonchu and Molee send their son to Bangkok. How's Boonchoke going to handle the unexpected situation in the big city?

Set against the sun-soaked shores of Italy in the summertime, seven different tales unfold about life, love, loss, family, and friendship.

Produced for Glass Eye Pix as part of their 2008 Creepy Christmas Online Film Festival, in which each short was inspired by the inhabitants of a Christmas diorama advent calendar. Each filmmaker was assigned a specific date and given the props that were used in that window to use in their short. This is the eighth film in the series.

The movie tells of a young couple Maya and Adam who loathe each other because they are forced into an arranged marriage by their parents. Maya's ailing grandmother wants her to marry as soon as possible despite the fact that she already has a steady boyfriend, Dani. Dani and Maya love each other and had even planned to marry previously. With the arranged marriage looming closer, Dani has to try and figure out how to stop from Maya been taken away from him forever.

A merry New Year's comedy about how two opposites met and, contrary to their nature, fell in love with each other. And it was like this: a non-poor owner of a factory for the production of New Year's tinsel was going to the office, and found himself at a sports and athletics meeting, where he met a blond careerist who couldn't stand businessmen...

A group of homeless kids and their struggle to earn money by going through trash,stealing,disturbing drugs and prostitution. The film sheds the light on what makes them do up-normal behaviors to survive and that society and government are responsible for this spreading of this issue.

An American mother receives word that her drug addled son has been kidnapped by a drug lord operating in South Africa.

Firefighter Shi Peng learned that Zhou Yu, the captain of his safety fire brigade, was the hero who rescued himself alone in the fire seven years ago, but at the same time, Shi Peng also learned a fact from others that made him difficult to accept. The hero who gave his fire faith was a "coward" in the fire. What Shi Peng did not expect was

Igor and Masha were a happy family - until his mistress appeared. She broke their marriage and molested their only child. Masha is up for a revenge.

Beautiful girls kicking ass, smashing skulls and fighting gang members in Los Angeles. One battle after another, culminating in a confrontation with the king of the streets.